Pages

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

CLEVELAND — Jonas Valanciunas made his first career 3-pointer and the Toronto Raptors closed the regular season with a 98-83 win on Wednesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who didn't play their "Big 3" All-Stars so they're playoff ready.

Norman Powell scored 25 points as the Raptors beat the Cavs for the first time in four tries this season and gave the defending champions something to think about if they meet in the post-season. Cleveland took Toronto down in six games in last year's Eastern Conference finals.

Although there was still a chance to secure the No. 1 seed in the East, the Cavs put more value on rest and sat LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Cleveland fell to 0-4 in games this season without the trio and 0-8 minus James.

The Cavs did get forward Tristan Thompson back after he missed four games with a sprained right thumb. Wearing a brace that he'll sport in the playoffs, Thompson scored 10 points in 18 minutes.